


Scary

by NeoNails



Series: The Scary Series (Leverage) [1]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Budding Romance, F/M, Facing Your Fears, Friendship, Geeks Rule the World, Movies Make Everything Better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 07:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoNails/pseuds/NeoNails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Parker didn't have relationships. She never had friends before. Until she joined Nate and the rest of the Leverage team. But...Hardison scared her the most of all. It was better if she didn't fall for Hardison.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scary

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in the process of moving my stuff from ff.net, so this is fairly old but still one of my favorites.

_There'll be girls across the nation that'll eat this up  
_ _Babe, I know that it's your soul, but could you bottle it up?_

\- "Bottle It Up," by Sara Bareilles

 

* * *

Parker didn't have relationships.

Before she started working with Nate and the rest of the Leverage crew, it was just out of necessity- thieves did not work together. It was a basic rule of thumb for her: You can't trust another thief. And as for anyone who wasn't a thief- why bother? It wasn't like she could ever tell her 'boyfriend' about her _real_ job. She didn't even _have_ a fake job to cover up for the real one.

There was no point.

After she got in with Nate, things shifted- dramatically. She wasn't a team-player, she wasn't good with people- she didn't even _like_ people- and she most certainly didn't make connections with anyone beyond a glance on the streets.

And then, suddenly, she _became_ one of those people. She was spending large amounts of time with them, having dinner with them- she even went out for drinks with Sophie after they got back after the David job.

She really didn't know how to process it. It was so _weird_ to realize that she actually had a relationship with these four people. They were her… friends.

She never had friends before.

It was an alarming thought.

She didn't know how to handle having friends. Instead of casing possible jobs and searching for good buildings to scale and skydive, she was eating burgers with Eliot and reminiscing with Sophie about past jobs and watching old episodes of _Docter Who_ with Hardison.

Hardison… he was the scariest of them all.

Even though she realized she was becoming quite close with all of her 'co-workers,' it was Hardison that freaked her out the most. Because she felt something.

She didn't feel things. She didn't _like_ feeling things. That meant she was getting attached, and, she knew best of all, when you got attached, you got hurt.

Parker liked money. She liked stealing things (for the fun- not for anything stupid, like hording crap like Sophie did- she never got that). She liked _Doctor Who_ , amazingly enough.

But she _hated_ getting hurt. She got hurt a lot when she young, when she was too small and defenseless and very, very un-Parker to do anything about it.

That was half the reason she became a thief. You can't get hurt when you were only out for Number 1.

Which was why Hardison scared the crap out of her. If she got too close, spent too much time with him, she'd start to want to spend _more_ time with him. That kind of closeness was dangerous. It led to bad things, like a permanent relationship.

It was one thing to become friends with Eliot and maybe even Nate, that was fine. She still had leverage of her own- if she wanted to, she could pack up and leave in 5 minutes notice. She was good at that. She kept things light- she rented her apartment, only kept a few changes of clothing on hand, and always had her large duffel bag by her door, always packed with three razors, an array of travel-sized bathroom products, and about ten grand in small bills.

She was prepared. It started out a nervous habit from her foster care days, and now she couldn't go a day without always having that duffel bag by her door. It was her own personal version of a security blanket. Even if she never used it, she liked to have it nearby at all times, always in the back of her mind.

That was why she didn't let Hardison find her when they split up. He actually came close to catching her a few times, once outside of Big Ben, the next time in the Cairo Museum. Each time, she hesitated for a millisecond, weighing out what might happen if she let him spot her. And each time, she bolted, hiding behind groups of people or buildings or, once, the Hope Diamond (before she decided to steal it).

She didn't like putting herself out there. It terrified her, even though she really, _really_ liked spending time with Hardison (who knew BBC had such awesome TV shows?).

So it was better if she didn't fall for Hardison.

It was so funny. She lived to fall off of buildings, plummeting until, at the last possible second, the line snapped and she was yanked back to reality, hanging several dozen stories above the ground, with only a harness and cable to keep her from death.

But the idea of falling for a _person_ , investing her feelings instead of adrenaline, to spend hours getting close and comfortable and putting your heart and soul out on the line instead of just your body? It was enough to make her grab her duffel bag and head to the farthest city her money could buy her.

She had to stay with Leverage. But she couldn't start staying with Hardison. It was too damn scary.

"Parker?"

Her head snapped up, big blue eyes wide with fear as Hardison walked into the kitchen. She had a mug of coffee- black- clutched in her hands, and she fastened her eyes on the cup, so that way she wouldn't have to remember how nice it was that one time they pretended to make out for the David job.

"So I was thinking… you really like _Doctor Who_ , and I figure if you like that, you're gonna _love_ the new _Star Trek_ movie. Because, c'mon, there isn't a closet geek out there that _didn't_ like the new _Star Trek_. So whaddya say, girl?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, still studying her coffee mug. She had already watched almost the entire first season of Hardison's favorite Doctor Who (apparently, there were over a dozen Doctor Whos…) _with_ Hardison, so maybe it wouldn't be _so_ bad if she spent another two and a half hours to watch some silly movie.

Parker glanced up, releasing her bottom lip to ask quietly, "Does it have anybody good in it?"

If she was more observant with people, she would've noticed the almost miniscule way Hardison's broad shoulder's slackened, happy with her answer. "Does it have anybody- woman, it's got Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, the _lovely_ Zoe Saldana, and- who can forget, the one and _only_ Spock Prime, Mr. Leonard Nimoy, the great!"

His puppy-like excitement over the nerdy movie was admittedly adorable, and it managed to worm a small smile out of her. She smiled a little brighter when he studied her and said, "Girl, you even know who I'm talkin' 'bout?"

She laughed a little and set down her mug, trying to relax a little. This was just Hardison being Hardison- it wasn't like he was trying to push her into a date or something.

His jaw dropped and he shook his head, like she committed some horrible crime (ironic). "I- you- Parker- woman, you and I gotta talk about some things about the great Spock before I can _allow_ you to watch this beautiful movie." He stepped closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, steering her towards the door.

She was disturbed to realize that she was completely comfortable his latest form of affection, but before she could be crippled with fear, Hardison distracted her with a long and convoluted discussion on why Spock is _clearly_ better than Captain Kirk. She understood exactly zero of his speech, but it kept her from freaking out and bolting.

Hardison was good at keeping her from bolting.

If she thought about it, that fact was probably the scariest of them all, but Hardison managed to keep her distracted the whole two and a half hours, sitting close to her, arm still snuggly wrapped around her shoulders.

As the credits began to roll and she _did_ have to admit _Star Trek_ was possibly even better than the _Doctor Who_ series, she also had to admit that watching a movie with Hardison was better than running away from her relationships.

Settling back against his arm, Parker grinned to herself. Maybe it wouldn't be _so_ bad if she got a _little_ attached.


End file.
